The Western Regional Police Command has arrested four suspected armed robbers, including two military officers, for attempting to raid LongShine Mining Company Limited at Obouhu, a suburb of Prestea.
Police reports indicate that the gang comprised six men—two soldiers and four civilians—but two of the civilians managed to escape. The remaining four suspects are currently in custody.
The incident occurred on Sunday, September 28, 2025, between 10:30 p.m. and 11:00 p.m., after the company’s security personnel and management made a distress call to the Prestea Police Command.
The suspects were initially detained at Prestea but have since been transferred to the Tarkwa Divisional Police Command for further investigation. Police have also impounded a Toyota pickup with registration number GN 6116-25, which was allegedly used in the attempted robbery.
Eyewitnesses recounted harrowing moments during the incident. A security guard told Prestea FM that the attackers, some of them in military uniforms, handcuffed workers, seized their money and mobile phones, and demanded access to the company’s “gold room.”
Another staff member, Gideon Ofori, a Tailing Officer with the company, told Empire News that the suspects arrived in a vehicle not familiar to the site and identified themselves as National Security operatives from Accra. He said they demanded to see the company’s mining permits and later attempted to extort money at gunpoint.
“When we refused to comply unless they returned what they had taken, we prevented them from leaving and called the police. That was when it became clear they were criminals,” Ofori recounted.
Police say investigations are ongoing to apprehend the two accomplices who remain at large.
